FOOTNOTES:[70]A mine is said to be inboyawhen it yields an unusually abundant supply of metal. Owing to the great number of mines in Cerro de Pasco, some of them are always in this prolific state. There are times when theboyasbring such an influx of miners to Cerro de Pasco that the population is augmented to double or triple its ordinary amount.[71]Huachacas are the portions of ore which are distributed among the Indians at the time of theboyas, instead of their wages being paid in money.[72]A shop in which chicha, brandy, &c., are vended.[73]The date of Salcedo's death was May, 1669.[74]Ninacaca is 12,853 feet, and Carhuamayo 13,087 feet above the sea level.[75]It is also called the Laguna de Reyes, and the Laguna de Junin.
FOOTNOTES:
[70]A mine is said to be inboyawhen it yields an unusually abundant supply of metal. Owing to the great number of mines in Cerro de Pasco, some of them are always in this prolific state. There are times when theboyasbring such an influx of miners to Cerro de Pasco that the population is augmented to double or triple its ordinary amount.
[70]A mine is said to be inboyawhen it yields an unusually abundant supply of metal. Owing to the great number of mines in Cerro de Pasco, some of them are always in this prolific state. There are times when theboyasbring such an influx of miners to Cerro de Pasco that the population is augmented to double or triple its ordinary amount.
[71]Huachacas are the portions of ore which are distributed among the Indians at the time of theboyas, instead of their wages being paid in money.
[71]Huachacas are the portions of ore which are distributed among the Indians at the time of theboyas, instead of their wages being paid in money.
[72]A shop in which chicha, brandy, &c., are vended.
[72]A shop in which chicha, brandy, &c., are vended.
[73]The date of Salcedo's death was May, 1669.
[73]The date of Salcedo's death was May, 1669.
[74]Ninacaca is 12,853 feet, and Carhuamayo 13,087 feet above the sea level.
[74]Ninacaca is 12,853 feet, and Carhuamayo 13,087 feet above the sea level.
[75]It is also called the Laguna de Reyes, and the Laguna de Junin.
[75]It is also called the Laguna de Reyes, and the Laguna de Junin.
The Sierra—Its Climate and Productions—Inhabitants—Trade—Eggs circulated as money—Mestizos in the Sierra—Their Idleness and Love of Gaming and Betting—Agriculture—The Quinua Plant, a substitute for Potatoes—Growth of Vegetables and Fruits in the Sierra—Rural Festivals at the Seasons of Sowing and Reaping—Skill of the Indians in various Handicrafts—Excess of Brandy-Drinking—Chicha—Disgusting mode of making it—Festivals of Saints—Dances and Bull-Fights—Celebration of Christmas-Day, New-Year's Day, Palm Sunday, and Good Friday—Contributions levied on the Indians—Tardy and Irregular Transmission of Letters—Trade in Mules—General Style of Building in the Towns and Villages of the Sierra—Ceja de la Montaña.
The Peruvian highlands, or level heights, described in a previous chapter under the designation of the Puna, are intersected by numerous valleys situated several thousand feet lower than the level heights, from which they totally differ in character and aspect. These valleys are called the Sierra. The inhabitants of Lima usually comprehend under the term Sierra, the whole interior of Peru, and every Indian who is not an inhabitant of the coast, or of the forest regions, is called by them aSerrano. But strictly speaking, the Sierra includes only the valleys between the Cordillera and the Andes, and I shall here use the term in its more limited and proper sense.
In the Sierra there are only two seasons throughout the year. The winter or rainy season commences in October; but the rains are neither so heavy nor so continuous as in the forest districts. The falls of rain seldom last longer than two or three days in succession. Storms of thunder and lightning are very frequent in the Sierra; they are not accompanied by snow as in the Puna, but often by hail. The thermometer never falls below +4° R., and during the daytime it is on the average at +11° R. In April the summer season sets in, bringing with it anuninterrupted succession of warm bright days. The nights in summer are colder than in winter. In a summer night the thermometer will sometimes fall below freezing point, and the cold is often very severe. About noon the heat is oppressive, though the average heat of the day does not exceed 13, 9° R. During the summer season the horizon is frequently obscured by heavy dark clouds, which seldom break over the valleys, but continue frowning over the hills. The natives call these portentous cloudsMisti Manchari(terror of the whites),[76]because the inhabitants of the coast always regard them as indicative of stormy weather.
The climate of the Sierra favors the natural fruitfulness of the soil, which richly repays the labor of the husbandman; but plants, peculiar to the warm tropical regions, do not thrive well here. Prior to the European emigration to Peru, only maize, quinua (Chenopodium Quinoa, L.), and a few tuberous roots were grown in the Sierra; but since the Spanish conquest, the European cereals, lucerne, and various kinds of vegetables are cultivated with perfect success. But the eye of the traveller seeks in vain for those stately forests which clothe the mountainous districts of Europe; the barren acclivities afford nurture only for the agave-tree, and some very large species of cactus. Groups of willow trees (Salix Humboldtii), which attain the height of about twenty or twenty-five feet, together with the quinua-tree, form here and there little thickets on the banks of rivers.
These regions, so favored by nature, have from the earliest period been the chosen dwelling-places of the Peruvians; and therefore in the Sierra, which, measured by its superficies, is not of very great extent, the population has increased more than in any other part of Peru. The valleys already contain numerous towns, villages, and hamlets, which would rise in importance, if they had greater facility of communication one with another. But they are surrounded on all sides by mountains, which can be crossed only by circuitous and dangerous routes. The fewaccessible pathways are alternately up rugged ascents, and down steep declivities; or winding through narrow ravines, nearly choked up by broken fragments of rock, they lead to the dreary and barren level heights.
The Serranos, or inhabitants of the Sierra, especially those who dwell in the smaller villages, are chiefly Indians. In the towns and larger villages, the mestizos are numerous. The whites are very thinly scattered over the Sierra; but many of the mestizos are very anxious to be thought white Creoles. A rich serrano, who bears in his features the stamp of his Indian descent, will frequently try to pass himself off to a foreigner for an old Spaniard. Here, even more than on the coast, the mestizo is ambitious to rank himself on a level with the white, whilst he affects to regard the Indian as an inferior being.
The few Spaniards who reside in the Sierra are men who have served in the Spanish army, and who, at the close of the war of independence, settled in that part of Peru. Many of them keep shops in the towns and villages, and others, by advantageous marriages, have become the possessors of haciendas. Those who have enriched themselves in this way are remarkable alike for ignorance and pride, and give themselves the most ludicrous airs of assumed dignity. The Creoles are the principal dealers in articles of European commerce. They journey to Lima twice or thrice a year to make their purchases, which consist in white and printed calicoes, woollen cloths, hard-wares, leather, soap, wax, and indigo. In the Sierra, indigo is a very considerable article of traffic: the Indians use a great quantity of it for dyeing their clothes; blue being their favorite color. Wax is also in great demand; for in the religious ceremonies, which are almost of daily occurrence, a vast quantity of tapers is consumed. The principal articles of traffic produced by the natives are woollen ponchos and blankets, unspun colored wool, saddle-cloths, stirrups and horseshoes. The last-named articles are purchased chiefly by the arrieros of the coast. It may seem strange that stores of horseshoes should be kept ready made; but so it is; for though in Europe we make the shoe to fit the hoof, yet in Peru it is the practice to cut the hoof to fit the shoe. On Yca brandy more money is expended than on everyother article of trade combined. The quantity of that spirit annually transported to the Sierra exceeds belief. To see the Indians on Sundays and festival days thronging to the shops of the spirit dealers, with their jugs and bottles, one might fairly presume that more brandy is drunk in the Sierra in one day, than in many of the towns of Europe in a year. In some parts—for example, in the province of Jauja—hens' eggs are circulated as small coin, forty-eight or fifty being counted for a dollar. In the market-place and in the shops the Indians make most of their purchases with this brittle sort of money: one will give two or three eggs for brandy, another for indigo, and a third for cigars. These eggs are packed in boxes by the shop-keepers, and sent to Lima. From Jauja alone, several thousand loads of eggs are annually forwarded to the capital.
Most of the mestizos possess little estates (chacras), the produce of which, consisting of grain, vegetables and clover, is disposed of in the towns of the Sierra, or in the mining districts of the Puna. As the profits arising from the chacras usually suffice to provide their owners with a comfortable subsistence, the mestizos pass their lives in idleness and pleasure. They spend the chief portion of the day in the true Spanish style, gossiping in groups in the streets, and wrapped in their mantles. When the state of the weather does not admit of this sort of out-door lounging the time is passed in gaming or cock-fighting. This latter diversion is no less in favor in the Sierra than in Lima. Such enormous bets are laid at these cock-fights, that the losses frequently entail ruin on persons of tolerably good fortune.
The agriculture of the Sierra is wholly consigned to the Indians, who either cultivate their own lands, or for very poor wages labor for the mestizos. In September, the ground is ploughed and prepared for sowing, which operation is performed in October, and the reaping takes place in April or May. By this means the seed is left in the ground throughout all the rainy season. In February violent frost frequently comes on during the night, by which the seed is so much injured that the harvest fails, and the scarcity occasions severe suffering and even famine. When the cold clear nights create apprehensions of damage to the seed, the people form themselves into processions, and gothrough the villages and towns imploring the mercy of Heaven. In the dead of the night it is no unusual thing to be aroused by the ringing of bells. The inhabitants then get up and hurry to church, where the solemn processions are formed. Penitents clothed in sackcloth go through the streets, scourging themselves; and the Indians, in their native language, utter prayers and offer up vows to Heaven. For the space of some hours an incessant movement and agitation pervade the streets, and when day begins to dawn the people return to their homes, trembling between hope and fear. The fate of the Indians, when their harvest fails them, is indeed truly miserable, for, abstemious as they are, they can scarcely procure wherewith to satisfy their hunger. In the year 1840, which was a period of scarcity, I saw the starving Indian children roaming about the fields, and eating the grass like cattle.
Maize is the species of grain most extensively cultivated in the Sierra: it is of excellent quality, though smaller than that grown on the coast. Wheat, though it thrives well, is cultivated only in a very limited quantity, and the bread made from it is exceedingly bad. The other species of European grain, barley excepted, are unknown to the Serranos. To compensate for the want of them, they have the quinua (Chenopodium Quinoa, L.), which is at once a nutritious, wholesome, and pleasant article of food. The leaves of this plant, before it attains full maturity, are eaten like spinach; but it is the seeds which are most generally used as food. They are prepared in a variety of ways, but most frequently boiled in milk or in broth, and sometimes cooked with cheese and Spanish pepper. The dried stems of the quinua are used as fuel. Experiments in the cultivation of this plant have been tried in some parts of Germany, and with considerable success. It would appear, however, that its flavor is not much liked; a circumstance rather surprising to the traveller who has tasted it in Peru, where it is regarded in the light of a delicacy. It were to be wished that the general cultivation of the quinua could be introduced throughout Europe; for during the prevalence of the potatoe disease this plant would be found of the greatest utility. It is a well-known fact that potatoes and tea, two articles now in such universal use, were not liked on their firstintroduction into Europe. The quinua plant, which yields a wholesome article of food, would thrive perfectly in our hemisphere, and, though in its hitherto limited trial it has not found favor, there is no reason to conclude that it may not at a future time become an object of general consumption.
Four kinds of tuberous plants are successfully cultivated in the Sierra; viz., the potatoe, the ulluco, the oca, and the mashua. Of potatoes there are several varieties, and all grow in perfection. The ulluco (Tropæolum tuberosum) is smaller than the potatoe, and is very various in its form, being either round, oblong, straight, or curved. The skin is thin, and of a reddish-yellow color, and the inside is green. When simply boiled in water it is insipid, but is very savory when cooked as apicante. The oca (Oxalis tuberosa) is an oval-shaped root; the skin pale red, and the inside white. It is watery, and has a sweetish taste; for which reason it is much liked by the Peruvians. The mashua is the root of a plant as yet unknown to botanists. It is cultivated and cooked in the same manner as those already described. In form, however, it differs from them all. It is of a flat pyramidal shape, and the lower end terminates in a fibrous point. It is watery, and insipid to the taste; but is nevertheless much eaten by the Serranos. As the mashua roots will not keep, they are not transported from the places in which they are grown, and, therefore, are not known in Lima. The Indians use the mashua as a medicine: they consider it an efficacious remedy in cases of dropsy, indigestion, and dysentery.
The vegetables and fruits of Europe thrive luxuriantly in the warm Sierra valleys; yet but few of them have been transplanted thither, and those few are but little esteemed. Some of the cabbage and salad species, together with onions, garlic, and several kinds of pulse, are all that are cultivated. It is remarkable that in these regions no indigenous fruit-trees are to be seen. The only fruit really belonging to the Sierra is the Tuna. In some of the sheltered ravines, or, as they are called, Quebradas, oranges, lemons, and granadillas flourish at the height of 10,000 feet above sea level. The fruits which have been transplanted from Europe are for the most part indifferent, as not the least care is bestowed on their cultivation. The effect of this neglectis particularly obvious in apples, pears, and damson-plums. Cherries and chestnuts are unknown in these parts; but on the other hand, peaches and apricots (duraznos) grow in amazing abundance, and many very fine species are found, especially in the southern provinces. Excursions to theduraznales(apricot gardens), in the months of April and May, to eat the ripe fruit fresh plucked from the trees, are among the most favorite recreations of the Serranos. Some of the Sierra districts are celebrated throughout Peru for their abundance of fruit. This luxuriance is particularly remarkable in several of the deep valleys, for instance, in Huanta; but, strictly speaking, these deep valleys partake less of the character of the Sierra than of the higher forest regions.
The periods of sowing and reaping are celebrated by the Indians with merry-making, a custom which has descended from the time of the Incas, when those periods corresponded with the two great divisions of the year. Even a scanty harvest, an event of frequent occurrence, occasions no interruption to these rustic festivals. Bands of music, consisting of trumpets, fiddles, and flutes, play whilst the corn is cut down, and during their work, the laborers freely regale themselves with chicha, huge barrels of which are placed for their unrestrained use. The consequence is, that they are almost continually intoxicated; and yet whilst in this state it is no unusual thing to see them dancing with heavy loads of sheaves on their heads. Their dinner is cooked in the fields, in large pots and kettles, and to partake of it they all sit down on the ground in rows, one behind another. The wheat and barley when cut are spread out in little heaps on the ground, and, instead of thrashing, the grain is pressed out of the ears by the tramping of horses, the animals being driven round and round in a circle. As soon as this process is ended, the agents of the Government and the priests make their appearance to claim the tithes.
In the larger villages and towns of the Sierra, the Indians frequently employ themselves in handicrafts, in some of which they attain a high degree of perfection, for they are not wanting either in talent or in mechanical dexterity. As goldsmiths they are remarkably skilful, and in this branch of industry they producework which, for taste and exquisite finish, cannot be excelled in the capitals of Europe. The various kinds of vessels and figures of silver wire (filigranas), made by the cholos in Ayacucho, have always been favorite articles of ornament in Spain. The Indians of Jauja are very skilful in working iron, and the objects of their workmanship are much esteemed throughout Peru. Of leather also they make various things in very beautiful style; and saddle-cloths, bridles, &c., of their manufacture are much more elegant and infinitely cheaper than those made in Lima. In Cuzco and the adjacent provinces many of the Indians evince considerable talent in oil-painting. Their productions in this way are, of course, far from being master-pieces; but when we look on the paintings which decorate their churches, and reflect that the artists have been shut out from the advantages of education and study; and moreover, when we consider the coarse materials with which the pictures have been painted, it must be acknowledged that they indicate a degree of talent, which, if duly cultivated, would soar far above mediocrity. In Tarma and its neighborhood the natives weave an exquisitely fine description of woollen cloth. They make ponchos of vicuña wool, which sell for 100 or 120 dollars each, and which are equal to the finest European cloth. The beauty of these Indian textures is truly wonderful, considering the rude process of weaving practised by the natives. They work various colors, figures, and inscriptions in the cloth, and do all this with a rapidity which equals the operations of ordinary looms. The most valuable textures they weave are those produced from the wool of the vicuña and the alpaco. They likewise make very fine textures of cotton and silk. It is curious that the Indians of each province have some particular branch of industry to which they exclusively apply themselves, to the neglect of all others.
The Serranos are a very sociable people. In the towns they keep up a continual round of evening parties, in which singing and dancing are favorite amusements; but on these occasions they indulge in brandy-drinking to a terrible excess. As soon as a party is assembled, bottles and glasses are introduced, and each individual, ladies as well as gentlemen, drinks to the health of the company. For a party of thirty or more persons, not morethan three or four glasses are brought in, so that one glass is passed repeatedly from hand to hand, and from mouth to mouth. The quantity of brandy drunk at one of the evening parties called in the SierraJaranas, is almost incredible. According to my observation, I should say that a bottle to each individual, ladies included, is a fair average estimate, the bottles being of the size of those used in Europe for claret. In the year 1839, whilst I was residing for a time in one of the largest towns of the Sierra, a ball was given in honor of the Chilian General Bulnes; on that occasion the brandy flowed in such quantities, that, when morning came, some members of the company were found lying on the floor of the ball-room in a state of intoxication. These facts naturally create an impression very unfavorable to the inhabitants of the Sierra; but a due allowance must be made for the want of education and the force of habit on the part of those who fall into these excesses. These people possess so many excellent moral qualities, that it would be unjust to condemn them solely on account of these orgies. The Serrano is far from being addicted to habitual drunkenness, notwithstanding his intemperate use of strong drinks amidst the excitement of company.
But if the vice of excessive drinking be occasionally indulged in among the better class of people of the Sierra, it is much more frequent among the Indian inhabitants. Every one of their often-recurring festivals is celebrated by a drinking bout, at which enormous quantities of brandy and chicha are consumed. In some districts of the Sierra the chicha is prepared in a peculiar and very disgusting manner by the Indians. Instead of crushing thejora(dried maize-grain) between two stones, which is the usual method, the Indians bruise it with their teeth. For this purpose a group of men and women range themselves in a circle round a heap ofjora; each gathers up a handful, chews it, and then ejects it from the mouth into a vessel allotted for its reception. This mass, after being boiled in water, and left to ferment, is the much admiredchicha mascada(that is to say,chewed chicha), the flavor of which is said to surpass that of the same beverage made in any other way. But they who have been eye-witnesses of the disgusting process, and who bear in mind various other preparations of Indian cookery in which the teeth perform apart, require some fortitude ere they yield to the pressing invitation of the hospitable Serrano, and taste the proffered nectar.
When it is wished to make the chicha particularly strong and well flavored, it is poured into an earthen jar along with several pounds of beef. This jar is made perfectly air-tight, and buried several feet deep in the ground, where it is left for the space of several years. On the birth of a child it is customary to bury abotijafull of chicha, which, on the marriage of the same child, is opened and drunk. This chicha has a very agreeable flavor, but is so exceedingly potent, that a single glass of it is sufficient to intoxicate a practised chicha-drinker, or, as they say in the country, achichero.
Every village in the Sierra has its own tutelary saint, whose festival is celebrated with great solemnity. Bull-fights and dances constitute the principal diversions on these occasions. These dances are relics of theRaymíor monthly dances, by which the Incas used to mark the divisions of time; and they are among the most interesting customs peculiar to these parts of Peru. The dancers wear dresses similar to those worn by the ancient Peruvians when they took part in theRaymí. Their faces and arms are painted in various colors, and they wear feather caps and feather ponchos. They have bracelets and anklets, and they are armed with clubs, wooden swords, and bows and arrows. Their music, too, is also similar to that of their forefathers. Their instruments consist of a sort of pipe or flute made of reed, and a drum composed simply of a hoop with a skin stretched upon it. To the inharmonious sound of these instruments, accompanying monotonous Quichua songs, the dances commence with those solemn movements with which the Incas used to worship the sun: they then suddenly assume a more joyous character, and at last change to the wild war-dance, in which the mimic contest, stimulated by copious libations of chicha, frequently ends in a real fight. In the larger towns, where the Mestizo portion of the population predominates, these dances are discouraged, and in course of time they will probably be entirely discontinued, though they are scrupulously adhered to by the Indians.
On festival days, bull-fights constitute the most favoritepopular diversion. In the Sierra this barbarous sport is conducted with even more recklessness and cruelty than in theCorridasof Lima. Every occasion on which an entertainment of this sort takes place is attended with loss of life, and sometimes the sacrifice both of men and horses is very considerable. During my residence in Jauja, fourteen Indians and nineteen horses were killed or seriously wounded in a bull-fight; yet catastrophes of this kind appear to make no impression on the people.
Some of the church festivals are celebrated by the Indians of the Sierra, in a manner which imparts a peculiar coloring to the religious solemnities. In the midnight mass on Christmas Eve, they imitate in the churches the sounds made by various animals. The singing of birds, the crowing of cocks, the braying of asses, the bleating of sheep, &c., are simulated so perfectly, that a stranger is inclined to believe that the animals have assembled in the temple to participate in the solemnity. At the termination of the mass, troops of women perambulate the streets, during the remainder of the night. Their long black hair flows loosely over their bare shoulders; and in their hands they carry poles with long fluttering strips of paper fixed to the ends of them. They occasionally dance and sing peculiarly beautiful melodies, accompanied by a harp, a fiddle, and a flute; and they mark the measure of the music by the movement of their poles.
The celebration of Christmas-day is marked by the appearance of what are termed theNegritos. These are Indians, with their faces concealed by hideous negro masks. Their dress consists of a loose red robe, richly wrought with gold and silver thread, white pantaloons, and their hats are adorned with waving black feathers. In their hands they carry gourd bottles, painted in various gay colors, and containing dried seeds. Whilst they sing, theNegritosshake these gourds, and mark the time by the rattling of the dried seeds. They perform the dances of the Guinea negroes, and imitate the attitudes and language of a race which they hold in abhorrence and contempt. For the space of three days and nights these negritos parade the streets, entering the houses and demanding chicha and brandy, with which the inhabitants are glad to supply them, to avoid violence and insult.
On New Year's Day other groups of mummers, calledCorcobados, perambulate the streets. They are enveloped in cloaks of coarse grey woollen cloth, their head-gear consists of an old vicuña hat, with a horse's tail dangling behind. Their features are disguised by ludicrous masks with long beards; and, bestriding long sticks or poles, they move about accompanied by burlesque music. Every remarkable incident that has occurred in the families of the town during the course of the year, is made the subject of a song in the Quichua language; and these songs are sung in the streets by theCorcobados. Matrimonial quarrels are favorite subjects, and are always painted with high comic effect in these satirical songs. The Corcobados go about for two days; and they usually wind up their performances by drinking and fighting. When two groups of these Corcobados meet together, and the one party assails with ridicule anything which the other is disposed to defend, a terrible affray usually ensues, and the sticks which have served as hobby-horses, are converted into weapons of attack.
In order to facilitate the conversion of the idolatrous Indians, the Spanish monks who accompanied Pizarro's army, sought to render the Christian religion as attractive as possible in the eyes of the heathen aborigines of Peru. With this view they conceived the idea of dramatizing certain scenes in the life of Christ, and having them represented in the churches. In the larger towns these performances have long since been discontinued, but they are still kept up in most of the villages of the Sierra; indeed the efforts made by enlightened ecclesiastics for their suppression, have been met with violent opposition on the part of the Indians.
On Palm Sunday, an image of the Saviour seated on an ass is paraded about the principal streets of the town or village. The Indians strew twigs of palm over the animal, and contend one with another for the honor of throwing their ponchos down on the ground, in order that the ass may walk over them. The animal employed in this ceremony is, when very young, singled out for the purpose, and is never suffered to carry any burthen save the holy image. He is fed by the people, and at every door at which he stops, the inmates of the house pamper him up with the best fodder they can procure. The ass is looked upon as something almost sacred, and is never named by any other appellation thantheBurro de Nuestro Señor(our Lord's ass). In some villages I have seen these animals so fat that they were scarcely able to walk.
Good Friday is solemnized in a manner the effect of which, to the unprejudiced foreigner, is partly burlesque and partly seriously impressive. From the early dawn of morning the church is thronged with Indians, who spend the day in fasting and prayer. At two in the afternoon a large image of the Saviour is brought from the sacristy and laid down in front of the altar. Immediately all the persons in the church rush forward with pieces of cotton to touch the wounds. This gives rise to a struggle, in which angry words and blows are interchanged; in short, there ensues a disgraceful scene of uproar, which is only checked by the interposition of one of the priests. Order being restored, the sacred image is fixed on the cross by three very large silver nails, and the head is encircled by a rich silver crown. On each side are the crosses of the two thieves. Having gaped at this spectacle to their hearts' content, the cholos retire from the church. At eight in the evening they reassemble to witness the solemn ceremony of taking down the Saviour from the cross. The church is then brilliantly lighted up. At the foot of the cross stand four white-robed priests, calledlos Santos Varones(the holy men), whose office it is to take down the image. At a little distance from them, on a sort of stage or platform, stands a figure representing the Virgin Mary. This figure is dressed in black, with a white cap on its head. A priest, in a long discourse, explains the scene to the assembled people, and at the close of the address, turning to the Santos Varones, he says, "Ye holy men, ascend the ladders of the cross, and bring down the body of the Redeemer!" Two of the Santos Varones mount with hammers in their hands, and the priest then says, "Ye holy man, on the right of the Saviour, strike the first blow on the nail of the hand, and take it out!" The command is obeyed, and no sooner is the stroke of the hammer heard, than deep groans and sounds of anguish resound through the church; whilst the cry of "Misericordia! misericordia!" repeated by a thousand imploring voices, produces an indescribable sensation of awe and melancholy. The nail is handed to one of the priests standingat the foot of the altar, who transfers it to another, and this one in his turn presents it to the figure of the Virgin. To that figure the priest then turns and addresses himself, saying: "Thou afflicted mother, approach and receive the nail which pierced the right hand of thy holy Son!" The priest steps forward a few paces, and the figure, by some concealed mechanism, advances to meet him, receives the nail with both hands, lays it on a silver plate, dries its eyes, and then returns to its place in the middle of the platform. The same ceremony is repeated when the two other nails are taken out. Throughout the whole performance of these solemnities, an uninterrupted groaning and howling is kept up by the Indians, who at every stroke of the hammer raise their cries ofMisericordia!These sounds of anguish reach their climax when the priest consigns the body of the Saviour to the charge of the Virgin. The image is laid in a coffin tastefully adorned with flowers, which, together with the figure of the Virgin Mary, is paraded through the streets. Whilst this nocturnal procession, lighted by thousands of wax tapers, is making the circuit of the town, a party of Indians busy themselves in erecting before the church door twelve arches decorated with flowers. Between every two of the arches they lay flowers on the ground, arranging them in various figures and designs. These flower-carpets are singularly ingenious and pretty. Each one is the work of two cholos, neither of whom seems to bestow any attention to what his comrade is doing; and yet, with a wonderful harmony of operation, they create the most tasteful designs—arabesques, animals, and landscapes, which grow, as it were by magic, under their hands. Whilst I was in Tarma, I was at once interested and astonished to observe on one of these flower-carpets the figure of the Austrian double eagle. On inquiry I learned from an Indian that it had been copied from the quicksilver jars, exported from Idria to Peru. On the return of the procession to the church, a hymn, with harp accompaniment, is sung to the Virgin, as the figure is carried under the arches of flowers. The bier of the Saviour is then deposited in the church, where it is watched throughout the night.
On the following morning, at four o'clock, the ceremony of hanging Judas takes place in front of the church. A figure ofJudas, the size of life, is filled with squibs and crackers, and is frequently made to bear a resemblance to some obnoxious inhabitant of the place. After the match is applied to the combustible figure, the cholos dance around it, and exult in the blowing up of their enemy.
In the Sierra, as well as on the coast, the priests are usually the tyrants rather than the guardians of their flocks; and they would frequently be the objects of hatred and vengeance but for the deep-rooted and almost idolatrous reverence which the Indians cherish for priestcraft. It is disgusting to see the Peruvian priests, who usually treat the Indians like brutes, behaving with the most degrading servility when they want to get money from them. The love of the Indians for strong drinks is a vice which the priests turn to their own advantage. For the sake of the fees they frequently order religious festivals, which are joyfully hailed by the Indians, because they never fail to end in drinking bouts.
Added to the ill treatment of the priests, the Indians are most unjustly oppressed by the civil authorities. In the frequent movements of troops from one place to another, they are exposed to great losses and vexations. They are compelled to perform the hardest duties without payment, and often the produce of their fields is laid under contribution, or their horses and mules are pressed into the service of the military. When intelligence is received of the march of a battalion, the natives convey their cattle to some remote place of concealment in the mountains, for they seldom recover possession of them if once they fall into the hands of the soldiery.
Every fortnight a mail is despatched with letters from Lima to Tarma, Jauja, Huancavelica, Ayacucha, Cuzco, and into Bolivia; another proceeds to the northern provinces; a third to Arequipa and the southern provinces; and every week one is despatched to Cerro de Pasco. In Lima, the letter-bag is consigned to the charge of an Indian, who conveys it on the back of a mule to the next station,[77]where it is received by anotherIndian; and in this manner, handed from cholo to cholo, the letter-bag traverses the whole of its destined route, unaccompanied by an official courier. As soon as the mail arrives at a station, a flag is displayed at the house of the post-master, to intimate to those who expect letters that they may receive them; for they are not sent round to the persons to whom they are addressed, and it is sometimes even a favor to get them three or four days after their arrival. The Peruvian post is as tardy as it is ill-regulated. On one of my journeys, I started from Lima two days after the departure of the mail. On the road I overtook and passed the Indian who had charge of the letters, and, without hurrying myself, I arrived in Tarma a day and a half before him. Ascending the Cordillera, I once met an Indian very leisurely driving his ass before him with the mail-bag fastened to its back. Between the towns which do not lie in the regular line of route, there is no post-office communication; for example, between Pasco and Caxamarca, or between Pasco and Tarma, or Jauja; and when it is wished to despatch letters from one to another of these towns, private messengers must be employed. The consequence is, that business, which in Europe would be conducted through the medium of correspondence, can be arranged only by personal communication in Peru. Travelling is difficult, but not very expensive, as every one possesses horses or mules.
The best mules employed in the Sierra are obtained from the province of Tucuman in Buenos Ayres. Formerly the arrieros used annually to bring droves of several thousand mules through Bolivia and the Peruvian Sierra, selling as many as they could on the way, and taking to Cerro de Pasco those that remained unsold. During the Spanish domination, the mule trade was in the hands of the Government, to whose agents it afforded ample opportunity for the exercise of injustice and extortion. It was one of the most oppressive of therepartimientos.[78]Every Indian was compelled to purchase a mule, and was not allowed even the privilege of choosing the animal. The mules were distributedby the authorities, and were tied to the doors of the houses for whose occupants they were destined. After the distribution of the mules, a collector went round to receive the payment. During the war in Buenos Ayres the traffic in mules suffered very considerably. For the space of twelve years not a mule had been brought from that part of South America to Peru, when in 1840 the Tucumanians revisited the Sierra with their droves of mules. They were joyfully welcomed by the Serranos, who gave good prices for the animals, and since then the traffic has begun to revive.
In tracing the characteristic features of the Sierra, I have as far as possible confined myself to generalities, and I will not now weary the reader by entering upon a minute description of particular towns and villages. All are built pretty nearly after one model. The large quadrangular Plaza is closed on three of its sides with buildings, among which there is always the Government house (cabildo), and the public jail; the fourth side is occupied by a church. From this Plaza run in straight lines eight streets, more or less broad, and these streets are crossed at right angles by others; all presenting the same uniformity as in Lima. The houses are roomy, surrounded by court-yards, and consist of a ground-floor and a story above, but very frequently of the ground-floor only. The walls are of brick, and the roofs are tiled. The churches are in very bad taste, with the exception of a few in the larger towns, which have a good appearance externally, and are richly decorated within. The smaller Indian villages are poor and dirty, and are built with little attention to regularity. But even in them the quadrangular Plaza is never wanting, and at least four straight streets issue from it.
The Sierra is by far the most populous part of Peru. The banks of the rivers flowing through the fertile valleys are thickly clustered with villages, which give a peculiar charm to the landscape, doubly pleasing to the eye of the traveller who comes from the barren parts of the country. The cultivated lands afford evidence of progressive improvement, and it is easy to imagine the flourishing condition to which this country might arrive with increased population.
From the Sierra two separate roads lead to the easterndeclivity of the Andes. One lies along the banks of the mountain rivers, and the other passes over the ridges of the mountains. The first way is very difficult, and scarcely practicable, for in some parts the streams flow through narrow ravines, bordered on each side by perpendicular rocks, and occasionally their course is hidden amidst impenetrable forests. The other way, across the mountains, leads again into the Puna region, and from thence over the steep ridges of the Andes to their barren summits. Descending from these summits, we arrive on the sharp ridges of one of the many side branches of the Puna Cordillera, which run eastward. The Peruvians call these sharp mountain ridgesCuchillas(knives). After crossing the Andes, and descending a few hundred feet lower, in the direction of the east, the traveller beholds a country totally different from that which he left on the western declivity of the mountains. On the eastern side the soil is richly covered with vegetation. From the cuchillas the road ascends to some higher ridges, crowned with stunted trees and brushwood, which, gradually spreading upward, blend with the high forests. These wooded ridges are called by the nativesCeja de la Montaña(the mist of the mountains). In these regions the climate is generally more mild than in the Sierra, for the mercury never falls to freezing point, and in the middle part of the day it never rises so high as in the warm Sierra valleys. Throughout the whole year theCeja de la Montañais overshadowed by thick mists, rising from the rivers in the valleys. In the dry season these mists are absorbed by the sun's rays, but in winter they float in thick clouds over the hills, and discharge themselves in endless torrents of rain. The damp vapors have an injurious effect on the health of the inhabitants of these districts, which are, however, very thinly populated, as the constant moisture unfits the soil for the cultivation of anything except potatoes. The pure alpine air of the Puna is preferred by the Indians to the vapory atmosphere of the Ceja.
FOOTNOTES:[76]The Indians apply the designationMisti, meaningMestizo, to all persons except Indians or Negroes, whether they be Europeans or White Creoles.[77]The distance from one station to another varies from six to twelve miles.[78]Repartimientos(literally, distributions) were the compulsory sale of articles by the provincial authorities.
FOOTNOTES:
[76]The Indians apply the designationMisti, meaningMestizo, to all persons except Indians or Negroes, whether they be Europeans or White Creoles.
[76]The Indians apply the designationMisti, meaningMestizo, to all persons except Indians or Negroes, whether they be Europeans or White Creoles.
[77]The distance from one station to another varies from six to twelve miles.
[77]The distance from one station to another varies from six to twelve miles.
[78]Repartimientos(literally, distributions) were the compulsory sale of articles by the provincial authorities.
[78]Repartimientos(literally, distributions) were the compulsory sale of articles by the provincial authorities.
Road to the Primeval Forests—Barbacoas, or Indian Suspension Bridges—Vegetation—Hollow Passes—Zoology—the Montaña—Plantations—Inhabitants—Trade in Peruvian Bark—Wandering Indians—Wild Indians or Indios Bravos—Languages, Manners, and Customs of the Indios Bravos—Dress—Warlike Weapons and Hunting Arms—Dwellings—Religion—Physical formation of the Wild Indian Tribes—Animals of the Aboriginal Forests—Mammalia—Hunting the Ounce—Birds—Amphibia—Poisonous Serpents—Huaco—Insects—Plants.
Leaving Ceja de la Montaña, we will trace the route to the Aboriginal forests, which extend eastwardly from the bases of the Andes. The whole plain is overspread by a thick veil of mist, which does not disperse until about noon, and then an undulating dark green canopy clouds the vapory atmosphere. A European, whose heart throbs at the bare idea of one of those vast virgin forests, gazes anxiously forward on the boundless distance, and finds the pace of his cautious mule too tardy for his impatient hopes and wishes. He beholds in perspective the goal of his long journey. Nature, in all her virginal freshness and grandeur, opens to his astonished eyes, and he feels a sensation of delight he never before experienced. Regardless of present toil and danger, he sees only the pleasure to come. But he is soon drawn back to cool reality, and is forcibly reminded of the truth, that every enjoyment must be earned by labor. The road is broken, narrow, and steep; over the woody sides of the hill it is easily passable; but as soon as it begins to descend, it presents all those difficulties which have been interestingly described by the early travellers in Peru. The scanty population of the surrounding districts, the native listlessness of the Indians, and their indifference to the conveniences of life, are obstacles to the making of roads which might be passable without difficulty and danger. However, where nature from the state of the countryhas compelled man to establish a communication, it is executed in the most rude and unsatisfactory manner. A most decided proof of this is apparent in the bridges calledbarbacoas, which are constructed where the way is through aderumbo, or a small narrow mountain-pass, or where there is an obstruction caused by a rock which cannot be passed circuitously. The barbacoas are constructed in the following manner. Stakes from three to three and a half feet long are driven into the ground, or into the crevices of rocks. Over the ends of these stakes are fastened strong branches of trees, the interstices are filled up with mud, and the whole is covered by a sort of matting composed of plaited branches and reeds. If the ground admits of it, which is seldom the case, a pile of stones is built up beneath the barbacoa, extending to at least one half its breadth. When it is considered that there is, probably, on the one side of this bridge, a rock inclining at a very acute angle, or an almost perpendicular declivity of a hill of loose earth, and that on the other side there yawns a deep abyss against which there is not the least protection, the traveller may well be pardoned if he shudders as he passes over the creaking and shaking barbacoa. These fragile bridges are often so much worn, that the feet of the mules slip through the layers of mud and reeds, and whilst making efforts to disengage themselves, the animals fall over the edge of the barbacoa, and are hurled into the chasm below, dragging down the crazy structure along with them. In consequence of these accidents, the way is often for weeks, or even months, impassable.
In the construction of these rude bridges, I observed that the Indians, in their simplicity, always faithfully copy their great instructress, nature. The majority of the plants growing in these regions belong, if I may use the expression, to an aërial vegetation. The small, gnarled, low-branched trees, have often scarcely one half of their roots in the earth: the other half spreads over the surface of the soil; then winding round the roots or branches of some neighboring plant, fastens on it, and intimately uniting with it, forms a kind of suspension bridge, over which the intertwining of numerous luxuriant climbing plants makes a strong, impenetrable network. All the trees and shrubs are covered with innumerable parasites, which, in the higherregions, are met with in their smaller forms, as lichens, mosses, &c.; but lower down, in the course of the various transformations they undergo, they appear in larger development.
The whole vegetable kingdom here is stamped by a peculiar character. It presents immense fulness and luxuriance: it spreads widely, with but little upward development, rising on the average only a few feet above the earth. Trees, shrubs, and tendrils, in endless complication of color, entwine together, sometimes fostering, sometimes crushing each other. Out of the remains of the dead arises a new generation, with an increase of vital impulse. It seems as though the ice-crowned Andes looked down with envy on the luxuriant vegetation of the forests, and sought to blight it by sending down cold, nightly winds. The low temperature of the night counteracts that extreme development which the humidity of the soil and the great heat of the day promote. But what the vegetation loses in upward growth it gains in superficial extension, and thereby it secures more protection against the ever-alternating temperature.
The further we descend the eastern declivity, the more difficult becomes the way. During the rainy season deep fissures are worked out by the flow of waters; the ground is slippery and full of holes. The sides of these hollow passes are often so close together that the rider cannot keep his legs down on each side of his mule, and is obliged to raise up his feet and thrust them forward. When beasts of burthen, coming in opposite directions, meet in these places, the direst confusion ensues, and frequently sanguinary conflicts arise among the Indians. The weaker party are then obliged to unload their mules, and the poor beasts are dragged backward by their hind legs, until they reach a point at which there is sufficient space for the others to pass. When I was proceeding through one of these cavities on Christmas-eve, 1840, I encountered a heavily laden ass coming down a steep declivity. Ere I had time to leap from my saddle, the ass came direct upon me with such force that my horse was driven backwards by the concussion, and I was thrown. Ten months afterwards, another encounter of the same kind threatened me with a similar disaster, and to save myself I had no alternative but to shoot the ass. The Indian who was driving the animal neglectedthe usual warning cry, given by the arrieros when they enter those dangerous passes, and he was regardless of my repeated calls desiring him to stop.
In some steep places, with the view of improving the roads, the Indians lay down large stones in the form of steps; but to ride over these rude flights of steps is no easy task, for the stones are small, and are placed at the distance of a foot and a half or two feet apart. The mule begins by placing his hind feet on the first stone, then springing forward he reaches the third stone with his fore feet, at the same time placing his hind feet to the second. By this manœuvre the mule's body is kept at full stretch, and the rider is obliged to lean forward over the animal's neck to avoid being thrown head-foremost by the violent jerks when the mule springs from step to step. It is absolute torture to ride down a descent of five or six leagues, along a road such as I have just described: willingly would the harassed rider dismount and pursue his course on foot; but were he to attempt to do so, the mule would stand stock still. I have already remarked the singular obstinacy with which the mules refuse to proceed when their riders dismount, and it sometimes gives rise to very comical scenes. On my way to Vitoc, I was passing through a ravine in which the uprooted trunk of a tree was resting slantwise against a rock. Though there was not room for me to ride under it, yet there was sufficient space to allow my mule to pass, and I accordingly dismounted; but all my efforts to drive the animal forward were fruitless. I had no alternative but to ride close up to the tree, then spurring the mule, I quickly slipped out of the saddle, and seizing the trunk of the tree, I hung to it until the mule had passed on.
No less difficult and dangerous are the steep declivities over loamy soils, which are frequently met with in these districts. On them the mule has no firm footing, and is in danger of slipping down at every step. But the wonderful instinct of these animals enables them to overcome the difficulty. They approximate the hind and fore feet in the manner of the Chamois goat, when he is about to make a spring, and lowering the hinder part of the body in a position, half sitting half standing, they slide down the smooth declivity. At first this sliding movementcreates a very unpleasant feeling of apprehension, which is not altogether removed by frequent repetitions. Accidents frequently occur, in which both mule and rider are mortally injured.
There is more variety of animals in these regions than in the mountainous parts; but they have few peculiarities of character. The swift-footed roe of the Cordillera roams here and dwells in the thickets, avoiding the warm forest. The dark brown coati (Nasua montana, Tsch.) howls, and digs at the roots of trees in search of food; the shy opossum crawls fearfully under the foliage; the lazy armadillo creeps into his hole; but the ounce and the lion seldom stray hither to contest with the black bear (Ursus frugilegus, Tsch.) the possession of his territory. The little hairy tapir (Tapirus villosus, Wagn.) ventures only at twilight out of his close ambush to forage in the long grass.
Of the birds there is not much variety of species; but all are remarkable for gay-colored plumage. Among the most characteristic of these districts are the red-bellied tanagra (Tanagra igniventris, Orb.), the fire-colored pyranga (Phœnisoma bivittata, Tsch.), two species of the crow, one of which is of a fine blue color (Cyanocorax viridicyanus, G. R. Gray), the other green on the back and bright yellow on the belly (Cyanoc. peruanus, Cab.). The Indians call the latterQuienquien, as it utters a sort of screaming sound resembling these syllables. Individual birds belonging to the Penelope family (P. rufiventrisandadspersa, Tsch.) and the green pepper-eater (Pteroglossus cæruleo-cinctus, Tsch.,Pt. atrogularis, Sturm.) are found in the lower forests.
Proceeding still further downward we at length reach theMontaña. The Peruvians apply this name to the vast aboriginal forests which extend across the whole country from north to south along the eastern foot of the Andes. Those which lie higher, and in which the spaces between the lofty trees are overgrown with thick masses of bushes and twining plants, are called by the natives simplyMontañas. Those which are free from these intermediate masses of vegetation they callMontañas reales(royal mountains). At first sight they produce the impression of a virgin forest of oaks.
The distance from the Ceja to the district properly called the Montaña is very various at different points. In some parts ittakes six or eight days' hard riding; in other directions the traveller may, in the morning, leave the snow-covered Puna huts, and at sunset, on the uninhabited margin of the primeval forest, he may taste pine-apples and bananas of his own gathering. Such a day certainly deserves to form an epoch in his life; for in the course of a few hours he passes through the most opposite climates of the earth, and the gradual progression of the development of the vegetable world is spread out in visible reality before him.
The Montañas of Peru are, in general, but thinly peopled with Christian Indians. They are employed either in cultivating their own fields, or in working as day-laborers in the great plantations. The productions of the haciendas consist chiefly of sugar, coffee, maize, coca, tobacco, oranges, bananas, and pine-apples, which are sent to the Sierra. The cultivation of bark, balsams, gums, honey and wax, also occupies a great number of Indians.
The plantation buildings stand on rising grounds. The walls are constructed of reeds, the interstices being filled up with loam, and the roofs are of straw or palm leaves. Around the buildings are the fields allotted to cultivation, in which the soils favorable to the production of certain plants are selected. The coffee usually grows round the house, and an adjacent building contains the store-rooms. The fruit-trees grow along the margins of the maize fields; marshy ground is selected for the sugar fields; in the vicinity of brooks and streams the useful banana flourishes; the pine-trees are ranged in rows on the hot, dry declivities, and the coca is found to thrive best in warm, hollow dells.
As the humidity of the atmosphere, added to the multitudes of insects, mice and rats, prevents any lengthened preservation of provisions, the cultivators sell or exchange them as speedily as possible; hence arises a very active intercourse in business between the Montañas and the Sierra. The mountain Indians bring llamas, dried meat, potatoes, bark, and salt, to exchange for fruit; it is very seldom that any money circulates in this traffic. Only the owners of plantations sell their productions for ready money, with which they purchase, in the upland towns, European goods, particularly printed and plain cottons, coarse woollen stuffs, knives, hatchets, fishing-tackle, &c.; with these goods they pay theirlaborers, charging them for every article five or even six times its value. As there is throughout these forest regions a great want of men, the plantation owners endeavor to get the few Indians who settle voluntarily on their property, fixed to it for ever. They sell them indispensable necessaries at an extravagant price, on condition of their paying for them by field labor.
I have seen an Indian give five days' labor, from six o'clock in the morning to sunset, for a red pocket-handkerchief, which in Germany would not be worth four groschen. The desire to possess showy articles, the necessity of obtaining materials for his wretched clothing, or implements to enable him, in his few free hours, to cultivate his own field, and, above all, his passion for coca and intoxicating drinks, all prompt the Indian to incur debt upon debt to the plantation owner. The sugar-cane is seldom used in the forest plantations for making sugar. The juice is usually converted into the cakes calledchancacas, which have been already mentioned, or it is made intoguarapo, a strong liquor, which the Indians spare no effort to procure. When they begin to be intoxicated, they desire more and more of the liquor, which is readily given, as it is the interest of the owners to supply it. After some days of extreme abstinence they return to their work, and then the Mayordomo shows them how much their debt has increased, and the astonished Indian finds that he must labor for several months to pay it; thus these unfortunate beings are fastened in the fetters of slavery. Their treatment is, in general, most tyrannical. The Negro slave is far more happy than the free Indians in the haciendas of this part of Peru. At sunrise all the laborers must assemble in the courtyard of the plantation, where the Mayordomo prescribes to them their day's work, and gives them the necessary implements. They are compelled to work in the most oppressive heat, and are only allowed to rest thrice for a few minutes, at times fixed, for chewing their coca and for dinner. For indolence or obstinacy they suffer corporal punishment, usually by being put into a kind of stocks, called theCepo, in which the culprit stands from twelve to forty-eight hours, with his neck or legs fixed between two blocks of wood.
The labor of bringing the forest lands into a productive state is one of the severest tasks in the Montañas, and it can only beperformed in the hottest season of the year. As the soil is always moist, and the vegetation full of sap, the trees must be cut down about the end of the rainy season, and after drying for some months they are burned; but they are seldom brought into a state of such aridity as to be destroyed by the action of the fire. This is a considerable obstruction to the progress of raising plants; for the seed must be sown between the felled trees, which are perhaps only half-charred, and are still damp. In consequence of this, the practice is, in the first year, to plant maize at the places where the burnt trees are laid; the maize grows in almost incredible abundance, and the result is a singularly rich harvest, after which, part of the burned wood is removed. The same process is renewed after every harvest, until all the burnt trees are cleared off and a free field gained for the cultivation of the perennial plants.
Far more fortunate than the Indians who are neighbors of the plantations, are those who live far back in the interior of the forests, and who, in consequence of their great distance from any settlement, seldom have intercourse with the civilized world. Content with what bounteous nature offers them, and ignorant of the wants of more refined life, they seek nothing beyond such things as they can, without any great efforts, obtain in the districts in which they dwell. There they plant their little patches of ground, the care of which is consigned to the women. The men takes their bows and arrows and set out on hunting expeditions, during which they are for weeks, often months, absent from their homes. The rainy season drives them back to their huts, where they indulge in indolent repose, which is only occasionally suspended when they are engaged in fishing. The return of the sunny sky draws them out again on their expeditions, in which they collect a sufficient supply of food for the year.
But wherever these Indians have settled on the banks of great rivers, the trading intercourse produces an alteration in their mode of life. Europeans and Creoles then try to create among them, as among the plantation Indians, a desire to satisfy unnecessary wants, and thereby they are induced to collect the valuable productions of the forests. In the loftier districts of the Montañas the Peruvian bark is found: the lower and more marshy placesproduce the sarsaparilla, and a sort of wood for dyeing calledLlangua. This last-named article has not yet found its way to Europe.
In the month of May the Indians assemble to collect the Peruvian bark, for which purpose they repair to the extensive Cinchona woods. One of the party climbs a high tree to obtain, if possible, an uninterrupted view over the forest, and to spy out theManchas, or spots where there are groups of Peruvian bark trees. The men who thus spy out the trees are calledCateadores, or searchers. It requires great experience to single out, in the dark leaf-covered expanse, the Cinchona groups merely by the particular tint of the foliage, which often differs but very little from that of the surrounding trees. As soon as the cateador has marked out and correctly fixed upon the mancha, he descends to his companions, and leads them with wonderful precision through the almost impenetrable forest to the group. A hut is immediately built, which serves as a resting-place during night, and is also used for drying and preserving the bark. The tree is felled as near the root as possible, divided into pieces, each from three to four feet long, and with a short curved knife a longitudinal incision is made in the bark. After a few days, if the pieces are found to be getting dry, the bark already incised is stripped off in long slips, which are placed in the hut, or in hot weather laid before it to dry. In many parts, particularly in the central and southern districts of Peru, where the moisture is not very great, the bark is dried in the forest, and the slips are packed in large bundles. In other districts, on the contrary, the bark is rolled up green, and sent to the neighboring villages, where it is dried. Towards the end of September theCascarilleros[79]return to their homes.
In the more early periods of South American history, the bark was a principal article of Peruvian commerce. Since the commencement of the present century its value has, however, considerably diminished, chiefly in consequence of adulterated and inferior kinds, which are supplied from other quarters, perhaps also on account of the more frequent use of quinine; for in the production of the alkaloids less bark is employed than was formerly used in substance. During the war of independence the bark trade received its death-blow, and for the space of several years scarcely more than a few hundred-weights of bark were exported from Peru. The Montañas of Huanuco, which once furnished all the apothecaries of Europe with the "divine medicine," are beginning again to yield supplies. From the roots of the felled trees a vigorous after-growth has commenced. In the Montañas of Huamalies a kind of bark is found, the nature of which is not yet defined by botanists; and from the Montañas of Urubamba comes the highly esteemedCascarilla de Cuzco, which contains an alkaloid, namedCusconin.[80]Possibly the medicinal bark may again become a flourishing branch of trade for Peru, though it can never again recover the importance which was attached to it a century ago. During my residence in Peru, a plan was in agitation for establishing a quinine manufactory at Huanuco. The plan, if well carried out, would certainly be attended with success. There is in Bolivia an establishment of this kind conducted by a Frenchman; but the quinine produced is very impure. The inhabitants of the Peruvian forests drink an infusion of the green bark as a remedy against intermitting fever. I have found it in many cases much more efficacious than the dried kind, for less than half the usual dose produces, in a short time, convalescence, and the patient is secure against returning febrile attacks.
A class of Indians who live far back in the heart of the woods of Southern Peru and Bolivia employ themselves almost exclusively in gathering balsams and odorous gums from resinous plants, many of which are burned in the churches as incense. They also collect various objects, supposed to be sympathetic remedies, such as the claws of the tapir, against falling sickness; and the teeth of poisonous snakes which, carefully fixed in leaves, and stuck into the tubes of rushes, are regarded as powerful specifics against headache and blindness. Various salves, plasters, powders, seeds, roots, barks, &c., to each of which is attributed some infallible curative power, are prepared and brought tomarket by the Indians. When the rainy season sets in they leave the forest and proceed in parties to the mountainous country. On these occasions, contrary to the general custom of the Indians, the men, not the women, carry the burthens. They are accompanied by the women as far as the Sierra; for the loads, which are often very heavy, graze the backs of the men who carry them, and the women then act as surgeons. The injured part is first carefully washed with copaiba balsam, moistened, then covered with leaves fixed on with small strips of leather, overlaid with the hide of some forest animal. These operations being performed, the loads are again fastened on the backs of the Indians. In their native forests these people wear but little clothing. Their dress is limited to a sort of loose tunic without sleeves for the women, and for the men merely a piece of cloth fastened round the waist. They go barefooted; but they paint their feet and legs with the juice of the Huito (Genipa oblongifolia, R. Pav.) in such a manner that they seem to be wearing half-boots. The juice of the Huito has the effect of protecting them against the stings of insects. The coloring adheres so strongly to the skin that it cannot be washed off by water; but oil speedily removes it. In the Sierra these Indians put on warmer clothing, and on their feet they wear a kind of boots calledaspargetas, made of the plaited tendrils of plants.
The stock of balsams and drugs being disposed of, the Indians, after a few months' absence, return to their homes. Some of them, however, wander to the distance of two or three hundred leagues from their native forests, traversing the greater part of Peru, and even visiting Lima, carrying large flask gourds filled with balsams. These wandering tribes seek frequent contact with other nations. They are not distrustful and reserved, but, on the contrary, annoyingly communicative. It is not easy to discover the cause of this exception, or to ascertain the time when the Indians began to travel the country as physicians and apothecaries. The earliest writers on the oldest epochs of Peruvian history make no mention of this race of medical pedlars.
The Indians here alluded to all profess Christianity, and must, asIndios Christianos, in strict correctness, be distinguished from the wild Indians,Indios Bravos, who exclusively inhabit theeastern Montañas of Peru, towards the frontiers of Brazil. These Indios Bravos comprehend numerous tribes, each of which has its own customs, religion, and also, in general, its own language. Only very few of them are known, for since the overthrow of the missions there is little communication with them. Respecting the Indios Bravos who inhabit the Montañas of Southern Peru, I have been unable to collect any accurate information. They remain quite unknown, for impenetrable wilds intervene between them and the civilized world, and seldom has a European foot ventured into their territory. The wild Indians in Central Peru are most set against the Christians, particularly those called Iscuchanos, in the Montaña de Huanta, and those known by the name of Chunchos, in the Montaña de Vitoc. The Iscuchanos sometimes maintain with the inhabitants of Huanta a trade of barter; but this intercourse is occasionally interrupted by long intervals of hostility, during which the Iscuchanos, though rather an inoffensive race, commit various depredations on the Huantanos; driving the cattle from the pastures, carrying off the produce of the soil, and spreading terror throughout the whole district. Some years ago, when the inhabitants of Huanta had assembled for the procession of the Festival of Corpus Christi, a troop of Iscuchanos came upon them with wild bulls, turning the infuriated animals against the procession, which was dispersed, and many of the Huantanos were killed or severely wounded. These Iscuchanos are so favored by the locality of the district they inhabit, that even were a military expedition sent to drive them farther back into the woods, it would probably be unsuccessful.
The Chunchos are far more dangerous, and are one of the most formidable races of the Indios Bravos. They inhabit the most southern part of the Pampa del Sacramento (the terra incognita of Peru), and chiefly the district through which flow the rivers Chanchamayo and Perene. Those regions are inhabited by a great number of tribes, most of which are only known by name. The frontier neighbors of the Chunchos are the sanguinary Campas or Antes who destroyed the missions of Jesus Maria in Pangoa, and who still occasionally pay hostile visits to San Buenaventura de Chavini, the extreme Christian outpost in the Montaña de Andamarca. The savage race of the Casibos, theenemies of all the surrounding populations, inhabit the banks of the river Pachitea. This race maintains incessant war with all the surrounding tribes, and constantly seeks to destroy them. According to the accounts of the missionaries, they, as well as the Antes and Chunchos, are still cannibals, and undertake warlike expeditions for the purpose of capturing prisoners, whom they devour. After the rainy season, when the Simirinches, the Amapuahas, or Consbos, hunt in the western forests, they often fall into the hands of the Casibos, who imitate in perfection the cries of the forest animals, so that the hunters are treacherously misled, and being captured, are carried off as victims. Many horrible accounts of this barbarous tribe were related by the missionaries centuries ago, when romantic stories and exaggerations of every kind were the order of the day; but the most recent communications of the missionaries from Ocopa confirm the fact, that in the year 1842, the Casibos continued to be savage Anthropophagi. It is worthy of remark that they never eat women, a fact which some may be inclined to attribute to respect for the female sex. It is, however, assignable to a different feeling. All the South American Indians, who still remain under the influence of sorcery and empiricism, consider women in the light of impure and evil beings, and calculated to injure them. Among a few of the less rude nations this aversion is apparent in domestic life, in a certain unconquerable contempt of females. With the Anthropophagi the feeling extends, fortunately, to their flesh, which is held to be poisonous.
The languages spoken by the wild Indian tribes are very various. From the Marañon to Omaguas, Quichua, the language of the Incas, is spoken. On the left bank of the Ucayali the dialect of the Panos prevails. On the right bank the Cascas, the Sinabus, and the Diabus, preserve their own idioms, which are so different that those races are reciprocally unable to communicate with each other. On Upper Ucayali evidences of common origin are said to be apparent between the Simirinches, Campas, Runaguas, and Mochobos. But on this subject no accurate conclusions can be formed; for the accounts given by the missions in early periods were very imperfect, and most of the races are so intractable that it has since been impossible tocollect correct information. According to the accounts of travelled missionaries which I had the opportunity of examining in the convent of Ocopa, it appears that, besides the Quichua, the idioms spoken by the Panos, Cascas, Simirinches, and the Chunchos, may be set down as dialects of decidedly different origins.